Young and Heartless first caught my eye as the next Brand New. I know, big shoes to fill. But listening to The Pull of Gravity last year, I couldn't shake this feeling. While this album felt much more driven, motivated and full of pace; Stay Away is perched on the other end of the hard-rock spectrum. Restrained, haunted and filled with slow burns. A nice change of pace as it tears into more introspective themes and plays off much more cerebral than its predecessor. Lyric-wise, it's a step up but in terms of musical style, I prefer what came before.

There are quite a few comparisons to make with these guys. Of course, there's the parallel to Jesse Lacey's camp -- which unfold on tracks like "Kids", "Heaven Nights" and "Punch Drunk (LOA)". They feel like a less aggressive Balance and Composure (refer to Jon Simmons on "Echo") as opposed to the preceding record which felt more tortured and shredding. The musical melodies are quieter and more harmonic as seen on the self-titled track, which feels like a Somos jam mixed in with The Sidekicks (a la "Century Schoolbook Grown-ups") -- darker and full of angst. 

Quite a few songs also pack that atmospheric haze a la Gates, which comes as no surprise given Will Yip produces -- as this kind of sound seems to be his forte recently. But things never get boring which is a huge positive and I'd chalk a lot of this down to the great vocals laid by Jeremy Menninger. He lets his voice carry their sound more as opposed to their old guitar-driven formula and it works out pretty well. Not as strong as before but still, solid enough. Point made on the piano-oriented "Misery on Misery" which stands as one of the record's most emotional gems. Tempo-wise, tone-wise...this is a very soothing and comforting rock album. And another smart step forward for a band that's always shown immense promise. Eager for more.